Ventilating system



C. F; KETTERING.

VENTILATING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 5,1917.

1,331,649. Patented Feb. 24,1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. KETTERING, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE DOMESTICENGINEERING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

VENTILATING- SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 5, 1917. Serial No. 146,826.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. Kn'r'rnn ING, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing at Dayton, county of Montgomery, and Stateof Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVentilating Systems, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to an improvement in internal combustion engines,and more particularly to engines of the air-cooled type.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an engineincluding means for effecting the cooling thereof by drawing or forcingair currents into contact with the part of the engine which becomesheated from operation, and to then discharge these air currents aftercoming into contact with the engine and effecting the cooling thereofunder pressure in such a manner that the exhaust gases of the engine,that is' the gases expelled from the engine on the exhaust stroke of theengine piston, will be conveyed to a remote point from the engine.

In the use of gas engines, and particularly those of the stationary typewhich are used as power plants for various purposes, it is well knownthat it is dangerous and extremely ob ectionable to discharge theexhaust gases from the combustion chamber of the engine to theatmosphere adjacent to the engine, inasmuch as engines of this type aregenerally operated indoors, and in many instances, in the-presence ofworkmen or attendants.

It has been found objectionable. however, to provide an exhaust pipe ofany great length to convey these gases to sucha remote point as .will beunobjectionable, in View of the fact that the exhausting of these gasesthrough an elongated pipe are necessarily effected by the pressure ofthe engine piston on its exhaust stroke, and if the exhaust pipe isunduly long, back pressure will be created which will tend to preventthe proper exhaust. of the products of com bustion (and exhaust gases)and tend to reduce the efli'ciencv of the engine.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawto draw airinto contact with the engine for cooling purposes.

Referring to the drawings, the engine 20, which is of substantially thesame construction as that described, illustrated and claimed in theco-pending application of Charles F. Kettering, Serial No. 58,207, filedOctober 27, 1915, is of the air-cooled type. That is, the flywheel ofthe engine, desig nated by the numeral 24, is so constructed that it notonly functions as a balancing device, but it also operates as a suctionfan, tending to draw air into contact with the heated parts of theengine for cooling purposes.

By referring to Fig. 1 it will be noted that the flywheel 24 is mountedat one end of the engine, within the casing 29. This flywheel isprovided with a series of radial ribs or fan blades 23, and a series ofperipheral blades 25,

The interior of the casing 29 is substantially in communication with theinterior of the casing 27 which surrounds the engine cylinder, shown indotted lines in Fig. 1, providing an air chamber as at 28, through whichair currents drawn in through the top of the casing 27 as per the arrowsshown in Fig. 1, through a suction action of the fan 24.

The conduit 29 tends to receive the air ejected by the forced action ofthe flywheel 24, and will tend to convey the air any determineddistance, to such a remote point as may be convenient orunobjectionab-le to users of the engine.

It will also be noted that the flywheel 24 is so mounted thatpractically the interior portion of the flywheel, which includes thePatented Feb. 24, 1920.

ribs or blades 23, is in alinement with the opening or chamber whichtends to surround the crankcase and cylinder of the engine, due to theconstruction of the crankcase and the casing 26 and 27 respectively.

The numeral 33 designates an exhaust pipe connected to the enginecylinder in any suitable manner. The exhaust tube 33 has a. muflier 35connected at its free end which tends to muflle the explosions of theengine and render the engine substantially quiet.

In the present invention the mufiier and a portion of the exhaust tubewhich is extremely short, are contained within the easing 29 and sopositioned that the muffler delivers the spent or exhaust gases in thesame direction as the air currents are forced through the casing 29 bythe forced pressure of the flywheel fan 2%.

By providing an extremely short exhaust tube and then delivering thegases to a casing through which a steady flow of air is being forcedunder pressure of the flywheel, will tend to eliminate the objection ofback pressures forming in the exhaust tube, and at the same time willpermit the final delivery of the exhaust gases to the atmosphere at anydesired point of remoteness to the engine that is desired.

Thus, ifthe englne is being operated within doors, the casing 29 mayreadily be carried to the outside atmosphere and thus exhaust the gasesentirely outside of the room or chamber in whch the engine is operating.

In Fig. 1 the casing 29 is shown as passing through a ceiling or wall 31and exhausting the gases to the outside atmosphere.

From the above description it will be seen that when the engine isoperating, and the flywheel fan 24 is rotating, the air will be drawnthrough the casing 27 into contact with the heated parts of the engine,and will then be passed through the flywheel and forced out through thecasing 29-to the atmosphere. That is, the flywheel fan 2; functions as asuction fan, with regard to the drawing of the air into contact with theen gine cylinder, but tends to act as a forced draft fan with regard tothe air passing out of the casing 29. p

It will be understood that this type of cooling the engine has simplybeen selected for the purposes of illustration and is not intended as alimitation in any sense.

The free end of the exhaust tube and its attached muflier are so formedand mounted within the casing 29, that the burnt gases will be deliveredfrom the muffler in the same direction as the air'is being forcedthrough thecasing 29, and it will therefore be seen that the air passingthe mufller at a substantially high rate of speed, will tend to have acertain suction eflect upon the burnt gases coming from theInufilerandwill therefore facilitate the exhausting of the gases fromtheengine.

In the aforegoing description the terms chosen to describe that elementwhich tends to convey the products of combustion away from the enginecylinder. It-should be un derstood that these terms are not used. in thesense of a limitation as to the form of structure of said element, butare simply chosen because they are terms in common use in the art at thepresent time.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described, constitutes apreferred form of embodiment of the invention it is to be understoodthat other forms might be adopted all coming within the scope of theclaims which follow.

What I claim is as follows:

1. In a device of the character described,

the combination with an air-cooled combustion engine having exhaustpassages; of a fan positively driven by the engine for effecting thecirculation of the cooling air; means associated with the fan forconducting away the heated air driven off from the engine by the fan;and means connected with the exhaustlpassages and with the first namedmeans at a point beyond the fan whereby the air passing out the firstnamed means will assist in the conducting away of the exhaust gases.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with acombustion engine having exhaust passages ;of a jacket for providing apassage for the cooling air about the engine; a fan driven by the enginefor causing the circulation of air through said passage; a conduitassociated with the fan for conducting away the heated air driven offfrom the engine by the fan; and an exhaust tube connected with theexhaust passages and leading into a conduit at a point beyond the fan. rI

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with acombustion engine having a cylinder, a jacket surrounding the cylinderand providing a passage for the circulation of the air about thecylinder; of a fan driven by the engine to cause a circulation of theair through said passage; a conduit surrounding the fan and having oneend open to the atmosphere; and an exhaust tube connected with theexhaust passages of the engine and leadin into the conduit beyond thefan and having the free outer end thereof extending in the direction ofthe free open end of the conduit.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with acombustion engine having a cylinder and crank case, a jacket surroundingthe cylinder and crank case and providing a passagefor the circulationof air about the cylinder and crank case; of a fan driven by the engineto cause the. circulation of air through said passage; a conduitsurrounding the fan and having one end open to the atmosphere; and anexhaust tube connecting the exhaust passages of the engine and leadinginto the conduit beyond the fan and having vthe free outer endthereofextending in the direction of the free open end of the conduit.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with aninternal-combustion engine having a cylinder and crank case, a jacketsurrounding the cylinder and crank case and providing passage for thecirculation of air about the cylinder and crank case; of a fan drivenbythe engine to cause the circulation of an through said passage;

a conduit associated with the fan and having one end open to theatmosphere; a muffler connected with the exhaust port of the engine andlocated within said conduit at a point beyond the fan and having itsoutlet extending in the direction of the free opening of the conduit. Intestimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. KETTERING. Witnesses:

' J. W. MCDONALD,

WALTER W, RIEDEL.

